Improvement in ornamenting and lettering hard and uneven surfaces



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM HENRY MOELOHERAN, OF HAMILTON, CANADA.

IMPROVEMENT IN ORNAMENTI NG AND LETTERING HARD AND UNEVEN SURFACES. I

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 120,656, dated November 7, 1871.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM HENRY Mo- ELCHERAN, a citizen of the United States, now temporarily residing in the city of Hamilton, in the county of VVentworth and Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented a certain new and useful improvement in the art of ornamenting and lettering hard or uneven surfaces in gold, silver, metal, bronze, and colors, of which the following is a specification:

My invention is peculiarily adapted to ornamenting sewing-machines, chairs, and similar articles of furniture, but may be applied to many other uses.

The device or figure required for ornamenting is first drawn upon a block of wood similar to those used for engraving wood-cuts for printing, or on other suitable material. Said block is then engraved so as to leave the device or figure raised thereon, in the same manner as if said block were intended to be used as a type for printing the figure engraved thereon. I then take a cast in plaster, gutta-percha, or other suitable material from the engraved face of the block, which serves as the mold or matrix for making another cast, as hereinafter described. I make a composition of glue, brown sugar, glycerine, pine tar, and balsam of fir, which I prefer to use in about the following-named proportions, to wit: Brown sugar, one pound; No. l glue, eighteen ounces; glycerine, one-half pound; pine-tar, one-half ounce; balsam of fir, two ounces. I first soak the glue in water till it becomes soft, then add the sugar, glycerine, and tar, and melt and cook them together by a moderate heat, in the same manner as glue is ordinarily prepared for use as a cement. I add the balsam of fir just before pouring the composition into the mold or matrix formed by the plaster cast hereinbefore mentioned. I form around the said plaster cast, in

any convenient manner, a raised edge or flange, so as to form a shallow pan, into which I pour the composition above mentioned to the depth of from one-eighth to one-third of an inch. This composition, when it cools, forms a tough but exceedingly pliable and elastic sheet, having upon its face a device or figure exactly corresponding to that engraved upon the face of the block from which the plaster cast was taken. This flexible sheet I use for imprinting figures upon the surfaces to be ornamented in the following manner To print colors, merely, I apply the paint or coloring matter, of about the consistency of printers ink, to the face of said elastic and flexible sheet by means of a roller or in any other suitable manner, and then apply the face of said sheet to the surface to be ornamented and press it gently thereon, which completes the process. But if the ornamenting is to be executed in gold or silver leaf, Dutch metal, or bronze, I first apply to the face of said flexible sheet, by a roller or otherwise, a coat of gilders sizing, and then apply the face of said pattern-sheet to the surface to be ornamented, pressing it gently thereon, as aforesaid, which transfers the figure in sizing to said surface. The metal leaf or bronze is then applied in the usual way.

If the ornamenting is required to be executed in burnished gloss, the surface to be ornamented must first be so japanned or varnished as to have a glossy surface. Then a sizing, composed of isin gglass or other gluey substance and water, is applied to the surface, and gold leaf is immediately thereafter applied. When dry, asphaltum-varnish, (black J apan,) especially prepared, is applied to the gilded surface, by means of the flexible pattern-sheet, in the same manner as the coloring matter or sizing, as above described. Then, when the Japan is dry, the surplus gold is washed off with water and afterward the Japan is removed by spirits of turpentine and whiting, leaving the ornamenting or lettering, as the case may be, complete.

The composition pattern-plate or sheet above described is so very pliable and flexible that it can be used on irregular, convex, or concave surfaces as well as on plane surfaces, and can be wrapped around small cylinders, such as the legs and rounds of chairs, andthe like. Said flexiblepattern-sheet may, if desired, be strengthened by a backing of canvas or other suitable material applied thereto before the composition cools; but I have not found any such backing necessary.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The method or process of ornamenting hard or uneven surfaces, substantially as herein described.

2. The flexible pattern-sheet, prepared substantially as herein described, and composed of the ingredients herein described, or their equivalents, for the purpose set forth.

W. H. MGELOHERAN.

Witnesses:

T. M. COOMIBS,

J os. L. Goolvms. 54) 

